Markus Zusak's compelling appointment with Death

In the hands of Australian writer Markus Zusak, Death is a surprisingly enjoyable omniscient narrator. Sure, Death does his job, and unapologetically so: "I can be amiable. Agreeable. Affable. . . . Just don't ask me to be nice. Nice has nothing to do with me."In Zusak's latest young adult novel, The Book Thief, Death doesn't...